Best PC games 2013

What were the top PC games 2013? Imagine... the year is 2013, Brazil are still a globally respected football team and the world is being pelted with classic PC game after classic PC game. Yes, 2013 was a particularly sweet year for quality games, so much so that we sought to definitively catalogue them in a nice big list feature.

From BioShock Infinite to Batman: Arkham Origins, from Gone Home to Gunpoint, from Metro: Last Light to another game beginning with M, they're all probably in here somewhere, in no particular order.

And if they're not? Well, you get the great pleasure of politely informing us in the comments below, you lovely lot.

BioShock Infinite

A little known title from obscure developer Irrational Games, BioShock Infinite is the story of a man who must infiltrate a flying city full of racists, puritans and revolutionaries in order to rescue a girl who can open rifts in space and time, thereby marrying the whitewashed, boardwalk idealism of turn of the century America to wild and subversive science-fiction. He achieves this primarily by shooting crows out of his fists. Check out our Clash in the Clouds DLC review and Burial at Sea Part one and Part Two.

Rogue Legacy

Metroidvania castle exploration in which death is permanent, but you may continue your adventure playing as your offspring, who inherits not only your gold, skills, abilities and progress, but some form of genetic trait that either helps or hinders them on their adventure. Vertigo, short-sightedness, dwarfism, they all affect the experience in a different manner. Check out Rogue Legacy review.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Words by Owen Hill

Here’s the beauty of CSGO: even though I’m extremely late to the Counter-Strike party, for the first time in the series I can jump into a game with a few friends and not get annihilated. The matchmaking works: a remarkable feat in a game where players’ experience can range from a few hours to 20 years.

Back up: Global Offensive is the first Counter-Strike that I’ve played competitively. By competitively, I mean, in Competitive Matchmaking, of course, not to a respectable level. I understand why this might be off putting to some, though. Counter Strike’s skill ceiling is scarily high.

But it’s superb.

That skill ceiling is what brings me back. Take the guns themselves: different recoil patterns, accuracy, armour penetration, clip sizes, weight. I’m not ashamed to admit that in my first 30 or so hours of CS:GO pretty much depended on the P90 - one of the more forgiving SMGs in the game, and one that got me consistently mocked for being a noob. But I was a noob.

It worked though, for a while. As I progressed up the ranks I discovered the downsides of the trusty P90, and started to buy M4s and AKs due to their increased range and headshot potential. That moment of personal progression meant a lot to me, far more than unlocking a foregrip in Battlefield or a red-dot sight in COD.

There’s even learning curve to chucking a grenade. For a frankly humiliating amount of time, they were a hindrance, something I’d buy because it seemed like the right thing to do. 90 per cent of the time I’d flash myself, or bounce once off the wall at the wrong angle and injure my teammates. That kind of thing really pisses people off, so I kept them in my pocket.

Thankfully, I died a lot, and got to watch more experienced players mop up after my mistakes. It’s another thing that puts impatient players off, but the waiting was my CS School, and I had an excellent record of attendance.

To get good at DOTA, I feel like I need to play the AI many, many times, or open my browser and study. In contrast, I’m constantly learning during a Counter Strike matches, alive or dead, winning or losing. I watched other players make the same mistakes that I was partial to and recognised their blunders. I saw better players use the tools that mystified me to good effect. I slowly understood the importance of Ecoing in the right rounds, and explaining your death succinctly instead of shouting “Fuck!”

Other shooters might have the depth, but none have drawn me in like this. Why? Because I miss caring about winning and losing. A simple concept, but something that’s missing from shooters of late. Call of Duty and Battlefield are far prettier games but, unless you play in a dedicated clan (something I don’t have time to do), they’re an oddly lonely experience. Win or lose, it just doesn’t matter as long as you get your unlocks. In CS:GO, communication is key and, thanks to the excellent ranking system, people are desperate to win. As a result, most keep their mics live, and their tactics tight. These matches can last over an hour. Better make some friends quick, eh?

Then there’s the drops. Unlike TF2’s potpourris of weaponry, it’s all cosmetic, but The Arms Update, introduced in August this year, has added a new level of persistence to my Counter-Strike sessions. Before, during, and after every match I look at my guns with pride. It’s a personal thing, your CS:GO inventory. Are you the type to show off a Neon SSG, or more of an Anodised Metal kind of player? Do you brandish the 5 Year Veteran coin, showing your dedication to the cause, or the Operation Bravo medal, proving your support of the community? These things matter.

Gone Home

Indie drama in which you play a woman returning from a trip to Europe to find her massive house empty, her family missing and her three-ring binders strewn about every room. Explore the gloomy abode, discover secrets, uncover mysteries, read notes, it's all going on here. Check our interview.

XCOM: Enemy Within

The distinctly not-underwater expansion to XCOM: Enemy Unknown delivered an extra-terrestrial swathe of new additions, from cybernetically augmented soldiers and Mechtoid alien foes to all new maps and tactical challenges. The name's fairly ominous sounding too, in a "what if we're the real monsters" sort of way. XCOM: Enemy Within has glorious trousers.

I seriously do not think DayZ deserves it. Maybe Arma 2: DayZ Mod, but the standalone is a complete mess. Zombies don't work (which is the whole focus of the game) multiplayer is fucking rudimentarily so. As long as they are on the Take On Helicopters/Arma 2 engine it will always be terrible. And also, the inconsistency in updates/fixes are really insane. There are bugs from the mod that are STILL in the actual standalone. I believe that the team can fix them, but Rocket just doesn't seem like the best project lead.